Wonersh and Shamley Green Infant School acquires netbook charging trolley

18.10.2011

Wonersh and Shamley Green Infant School, a Church of England aided school catering for four to seven year olds, is located in an idyllic woodland village in the heart of the Surrey Hills. First established in 1683, the school delivers a safe and secure learning environment for pupils living in the parishes of Wonersh, Shamley Green and Blackheath and encourages pupils to see themselves as “global citizens” through the school’s links with partners in China, Nepal and Africa.

Headteacher Tess Trewinnard believes that it is essential for children to acquire ICT skills from a young age, so, in May 2011, the school invested in 30 infant-friendly netbooks for her pupils to use. Realising that her school would require an effective way to store and charge the netbooks, Tess was advised to purchase a netbook trolley to house the school’s new equipment. Unfortunately, Wonersh and Shamley Green Infant School’s new netbook trolley was not manufactured or sold by LapSafe® Products.

When the new netbook trolley arrived on site, Tess immediately saw that what had been delivered did not meet her expectations or the needs of her school. As Tess explains: “When I tried to put our new netbooks into the trolley, it was clear that they did not fit, rendering the unit useless to us. What was even more disappointing was the fact that the netbook trolley was designed to charge the netbooks vertically, and I could see that charging the devices in this way would damage both the netbooks and their power supplies. It looked as if the netbooks would rattle around whenever the trolley was moved, so I sent the unit straight back to its manufacturer.”

Faced with 30 netbooks but no way to safely charge them, Tess began looking at other manufacturers to find a more suitable netbook trolley. As Tess explains, “After my previous bad experience, I came to LapSafe® Products because they seemed to be the only company to completely meet the needs of my school. The school had invested a lot of money in purchasing the netbooks, so I wanted to purchase a quality trolley that would charge our netbooks horizontally, so that I could be assured that it would protect our investment.”

According to Tess, “The Unocart™ met my expectations in the way that our previous netbook trolley had not. The unit is sturdy and stable, unlike some other laptop cabinets that I looked at, and it has large strong wheels that make the trolley easy to move. Mobility was an essential requirement for me because I wanted something that could be easily pushed by young children. I wanted a trolley that could be easily accessed by our pupils, and the UnoCart™ enables this perfectly.”

Although Tess was attracted to the height, quality, accessibility and easy mobility of the UnoCart™, it was not just the product’s features that lead her to purchase the netbook trolley. Tess said: “I was very impressed by the customer service provided by LapSafe® Products. A sales representative brought one of each of the trolleys in the LapSafe® range to our school in one trip so that I could see which one would best meet our needs.

“It can sometimes be difficult to judge what a prod- uct will be like in reality when it is just displayed in a brochure, so having someone come to the school for a free no-obligation demonstration was very helpful. When I saw the UnoCart™ in the ‘flesh’, I realised that the trolley would be worth investing in.”

Tess and her pupils now use their UnoCart™ to transport their netbooks around the school, provid- ing pupil access to the school’s learning platform and educational software. The children also use the netbooks for project work and even for taking learning outside of the classroom into the school grounds. As Tess concludes: “Staff and parents are very impressed with our new UnoCart™ and netbooks. The machines enable us to teach pupils

valuable skills that they will need throughout their education and are a fantastic tool for motivation.

“I would certainly recommend LapSafe® Products and the UnoCart™ to other schools looking for a reliable netbook trolley. Not only did we receive excellent customer service, but the trolley is sturdy and good quality.”

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